Today in History: January 29, Bush warns of ‘axis of evil'

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2025. There are 336 days left in the year.

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press
January 20, 2025 at 5:05AM

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2025. There are 336 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 29, 2002, in his first State of the Union address, President George W. Bush said terrorists were still threatening America — and warned of ''an axis of evil'' consisting of North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

Also on this date:

In 1891, following the death of her brother Kalākaua, Lili‘uokalani was sworn in as the first and only queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom. (Her reign would end two years later when the Hawaiian monarchy was abolished following a U.S. military-supported coup d'état.)

In 1936, the first five inductees of baseball's Hall of Fame — Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson — were named in Cooperstown, New York.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping (dung shah-oh-ping) to the White House, following the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team in NFL history to win five Super Bowl titles, beating the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, in Super Bowl XXIX.

In 1998, a bomb rocked an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, killing security guard Robert Sanderson and critically injuring nurse Emily Lyons. (The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence.)

In 2013, the Justice Department ended its criminal probe of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, with a U.S. judge agreeing to let London-based oil giant BP PLC plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties.

In 2017, six people were killed in a shooting at a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers. (Alexandre Bissonnette, who was arrested nearby, pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison.)

In 2018, the Cleveland Indians announced that they would remove the Chief Wahoo logo from their uniforms in the coming baseball season, after decades of protests and complaints that the grinning, red-faced caricature was racist. (The team changed its name to the Cleveland Guardians starting in the 2022 season.)

Today's birthdays: Feminist author Germaine Greer is 86. Actor Katharine Ross is 85. Actor Tom Selleck is 80. R&B singer Charlie Wilson is 72. TV host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey is 71. Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis is 65. Actor Nicholas Turturro is 63. Football Hall of Famer Andre Reed is 61. Hockey Hall of Famer Dominik Hašek is 60. Actor-director Edward Burns is 57. Actor Heather Graham is 55. Actor Sara Gilbert is 50. Pop-rock singer Adam Lambert is 43.

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